Composition for fuse



H. E. NASH July 30, u1935.

COMPOSITION FOR FUSE, IGNITER CHARGES, AND THE LIKE Original Filed March 22, 1932 W Y 47m Mfrs.

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Reiasued July 30, 1935 CUMPGSITION CHARGES.

Henry E. Nash, Wilmington, Del.,

Hercules Powder Company, corporation of Delaware 1,980,591; datei Mt! 29 March 22, 1933.

1934, Serial No. 149,120

Original No.

No. 600,450. reissue October 19,

14 Cllirnl.

My'invention relates to an improvement in delay caps such sives when it 4is charges successively by means neously ignited.

Heretofore delay caps tially a detonating charge, a fuse through the medium ing charge is tired,

used for detonating explodesired to detonate several of caps simultalength as will allord desired delay between the iirins of the igniter detonating chargeM explosives to be detonated. In such caps,

the ignition elements have beentofore produced,

charge and the ring of the detonation of the as herewhi'ch effects encased in a metallic casing suitably plugged and provided with a vent hole or passage for the escape of gases evolved in the burning of the igniter charge and fuse,

the vent hole or 11355888 being customarily clod by means of a frangible material, or material which will not offer a substantial obstruction to the fuse iS fired.

escape of the gases after the 1n delay caps as heretofore produced the pro vision of a vent has been quantity oi gas essential, since a large is rapidly developed in the burning of the igniter charge and fuse, which if not permitted to would develop freely escape from the casing high pressure, which, among other deleterious effects, would cause acceleration of the burning rate premature detonation of other hand, the provision of a vent is and disadvantageous since the vent ever, on the objectionable however carefully function,

of water or moisture premature ing. Further,

of the fuse and' consequently the explosive. Howclosed, without negation of its affords a possible course for the entry into the interior of the casignition of the explosive may occur through contact therewith of hot gases from the burning of the vent, and irregularity in the fuse which escape through the burning of the fuse may occur through improper venting or accidental stoppage of the vent which will result in a buildingup of pressure within the casing.

Now, in accordance with my invention I provide a delay cap necessity for a vent is of such a character that the obviated and consequently in which the igniter charge fuse and detonating charge may be sealed within the casing and and at the same time risk of premature detonation of the explosive through rate of the fuse or l contact with a name or acceleration of the burning ignition of the explosive trom hot gases from -the delay V cap is positively eliminated.

In accordance with my invention I provide FOB FUSE, IGNITEB AND TBE LIKE Wilmington, Del., a

1934. Serial Application for (CL liz-2) broadly a ventless cap, and more particularly a ventless cap furnished with a fuse, and desirably also with an igniter charge, of such a character that on burning no substantial quantity ot gas will be evolved. or, where the character o! the fuse and/or ignitercharge is such as to evolve any substantial amount oi gas on burning, I provide means within the cap for absorbing evolved gas to an extent such as to avoid dele- -terious pressure within the cap.

In the practical adaptation of my invention where it involves the use of a fuse of such character that it will not evolve any substantial amount of gas on burning, I Iorm the fuse, and desirably also the igniter charge, from a mixture of an oxidizing agent and a substance which when burned in the presence of the oxidizing agent will react therewith without producing any substantial quantity of a reaction product in gaseous form.

As illustrative or one my invention, I may,

practical embodiment of for example, form the powder charge of the fuse, and desirably also the igniter charge, from a mixture of an oxidizing agent, as, for example, barium peroxide, potassium chlorate, potassium permanganate, red lead (PbaOr) or the like, which may be included in amount within say the range 50%-98%, by weight, and, for example, one or more of the elements oi' the right hand column of group VI of the periodic table. i. e. sulphur, selenium, or tellurium. which may be included in amount within say the range 27o-50%, and to which, i! desired, may be added, for example, an inert material as barium oxide, magnesium oxide, lead oxide (PbO), or the like, in amount within say the range 1%-30%, which will exert a control on the rate of burning of the mixture.

4Where a metallic oxide is used as the oxidizing agent, it is preferably used in such excess that a. solid salt of the metal and the Oxy-acid radical formed by the oxidation of the oxidizableelement is obtained. For example, using BaO: or PbsOi and sulphur, BaSO4 or PbSOi would result, together, oi course, with BaO and PbO.

AsV illustrative of another practical embodiment of my invention, I may form the powder charge of the fuse and also the igniter charge of any suitable materials used for such purposes, using desirably materials which on burning will evolve a minimum oi gas, for example, the materials as hereinbefore described may be used, and placed within the cap, in a chamber provided therefor adjacent to the ignition end of the fuse, a substance which will absorb gas evolved in the burn assigner to l ing ci the ruse and its ignition charge. For example. I may place in the cap as the absorbent asubstance such as silica sel. activated charcoal, or the like, which will act to absorb sas evolved in the burning o! an ignition charge and fuse ot suitable composition, as, for example, potassium chlorate and selenium, to an extent such that no material cr deleterious pressure will be developed within the cap.

By way of more speciically illustrating the practical embodiment of my invention, when the powder charge of the fuse and the ignition charge are of such character that on firing no substantial amount of gas will be evolved. reference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through a delay cap embodying such features of the invention; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary similar vertical section through a modification.

In the drawing A indicates a casing, preferably of metal as, for example, copper. At the bottom of the casing is positioned a detonating charge B, formed, for example, of mercury i'ulminate or other suitable primary detonating material, or the detonating charge may comprise a primer charge, as mercury fulminate. or the like, and a base charge. such as tetryl, or the like. Above the detonating charge is positioned a fuse C, consisting of a fuse powder d, comprising a mixture of. for example, 15% selenium and 85% barium peroxide, within a metal container e about which there may be, it desired, a wrapping of cloth, or other suitable material l. Itwill be understood that the length of the fuse C will be made such as to give the desired delay in firing of the detonating charge B after ignition of the fuse.

Above the fuse and for the purpose of igniting it, there is positioned a sulphur plug G provided with a recess filled with an igniter charge H, desirably having the same characteristics as that of the fuse powder d and it desired of a similar composition. Above the sulphur plug C is a waterproong material I of any desired composition and the casing A is closed at the top by means of a sulphur plug J, which when poured enters the crimp Ic and becomes keyed to the casing. i

Lead wires m, m extend into the casing A through plug J, the waterproofing composition I, the plug G and into the lgniter charge H. The ends of the lead wires are connected by means of a bridge wire 1i, as is usual in cap construction, and the bridge wire may, ii' desired. be coated with a readily ignltable composition as, for example, diazodinitrophenol and potassium chlorate, or the like, with a binder as, for example, nitrocellulose, or the like, the binder being in quantity, however, in'sumcient to produce any substantial quantity of gas on burning.

By way of more specifically illustrating the practical embodiment of my invention where means are provided to absorb gaseous reaction products which may be evolved, reference is made to the accompanying drawing. Figure 2, which is a sectional view ofa cap embodying my invention, the upper Vand lower portions being broken away. In the cap illustrated by Figure 2, A indicates the casing. H the igniter charge. n the bridge wire, m, m the lead wires and e the fuse, wrapped as indicated at f. and having a powder charge d of any suitable composition, that is to say, one which will not give oil' an excessive amount of gas. Desirably. for example,

racer pors to produce a solid. It desired, the passageV q may be eliminated when the plug G is made a loose llt in the casing.

As further illustrative of a practical embodiment oi' my invention, the fuse, and/or the igniter charge may comprise a mixture of red lead and sulphur, in various proportions, say for cxample, %-98% red lead and 2%l5% sulphur, and to which, if desired, may be added an inert material or an active oxidizing material to de- -crease or increase the burning rate. A satis factory composition may, for example, involve red lead 97.2% and sulphur 2.8%, the ingredients being suitably ground by being mixed together, water added to form a paste, the paste ground in a ball mill and then dried in a current of warm air. 'Ihe cake formed on drying of the paste is broken up and heated at. an elevated temperature, say 130 C., to harden the powder and render it suitable for graining, say for one and one-half hours. It will be appreciated that the temperature and timeused in hardening the powder may be widely varied. As has been indicated the powder may contain an inert substance or an oxidizing agent in addition to red lead. and sulphur. Thus, for example, a satisfactory powder is comprised of red lead 91% sulphur 3% and lead oxide (litharge) 6%. The red lead and sulphur composition will on burning produce a minimum of gas and at the same time will have the advantages of substantial resistance to moisture and a fixed burning rate. Selenium or tellurium may be substituted for sulphur in the combination with red lead.

The operation of the delay cap in accordance with my invention will, it is believed, be obvious, it being understood that'on closing an electric circuit through the lead wires m, m the bridge wire n will be highly heated or fused, the igniter charge H will be ignited and will ignite the fuse C, which on burning down to the detonating charge B will fire it for the detonation of an explosive charge with which the cap is associated. When the powder charge of the fuse and the igniter charge are such as not to evolve any substantial amount of gas on burning, the cap is arranged as shown in Fig. 1. On the other hand, ii. it is desired to use a powder charge and an igniter charge of such a composition as will evolve a substantial amount of gas, the cap will contain an absorbent material, as shown in Fig. 2, and the evolved gas passing through the passage q, or by plug G will be sufiiciently absorbed by the absorbent material as to avoid the development oi' deleterious pressure within the cap.

It will be noted that the cap embodying my invention is not provided with any vent, the charges and fuse being confined within the casing and positively protected. and it will be noted that in the burning of the ignition charge and of the fuse no substantial evolution of gas will occur due to the composition of the powder comprised in the charge and fuse, or that if in the case o! any suitable charge' any substantial amount of gas is evolved, it will be absorbed with avoidance o! deleterious pressure within the cap.

It will be further understood that I contemplate my invention as applicable to delay igniters as well as to delay caps in connection with which, more particularly, I have described my invention herein. When the invention applied to a delay igniter, for the ignition of, for example,black powder, as will be obvious the structure illustrated and described herein will be modiiled to the extent that a match composition, consisting, for example, of bia/ck powder, Iulminate-chlorate-charcoal-nltrostarch mixture, or the like. will be substituted for the detonating charge B and the bottom of the casing A will be left open, the match composition beingi protected from moisture by a coating o! lacquer or other suitable waterproong. Hence, it will be understood that I contemplate a delay igniter as the equivalent of a delay cap and as within the scope of the claims appended hereto, in which the term "a detonating charge will be understood to include a match composition or igniter.

It will be understood that I do not intend my invention to be limited by the specification of particular compounds or compositions herein, nor to the cap structure described herein for purposes of illustration, since I contemplate as within the scope of my invention the use of any compound or composition operably equivalent for those speciiled, and where an absorbent is used, I contemplate the use oi any absorbent or adsorbent material or other means for avoiding the development of deleterious gas pressure within a cap, and of any suitable charging composition. Further, it will be understood that I do not linut the application oi' my invention to a cap the casing of which is ventless, since uni the casing may be desirably vented, as for example, vented more or less i'or the escape oi' any excess gas developed or not absorbed by the absorbent material.

I have not claimed herein the delay cap described. This delay cap forms the subject matter of an application, Serial No. 440,696. led April 1, 1930, and a continuation in part thereof, Serial No. 542,576, led June 6, 193i. This application is a continuation in part of application Serial No. 542,576, tiled June 6, 193i, which is a division of theapplication bearing Serial No. 440,696.

What I claim and Patent is:

l. A composition for use as a charge for fuse. as an igniter charge or the like, including an oxidizing agent and selenium, the oxidizing agent being of such character that when the selenium is burned in its presence it will react with the selenium without the production oi anysubstantial quantity of gaseous products.

2. A composition for use as a charge for fuse, as an igniter charge or the like, including barium peroxide and selenium.

3. A composition for as an igniter charge, or the like, lead and sulphur.

desire to protect by Letters use as a charge for fuse, including red charge for fuse, including red 4. A composition for use as a as an igniter charge, or the like, lead, sulphur, and litharge.

5. A composition for use as a charge for fuse, as an igniter charge or the like, including an element selected from the group consisting of sulphur, tellurium and selenium and an oxidizing agent which on combustion will combine with an element from said group without the development oi' any substantial quantity of gaseous products.

6. A composition for use as a charge for fuse, as an igniter charge or the like, including barium peroxide and an element selected from the group consisting oi sulphur, tellurium and selenium.

'1. A composition for use as a charge for fuse, as an igniter charge or the like, including an oxidizing agent comprising a metallic oxide and an element selected from the group consisting of sulphur, tellurium and selenium.

8. A composition for use as a. charge for fuse, as an igniter charge or the like, including red lead and an element selected from the group consisting of sulphur, tellurium and selenium.

9. A composition for use as a charge for fuse, as an igniter charge or the like, including an ei-ement selected from the group consisting of sulphur, tellurium and selenium and an oxidizing agent which on combustion will combine with an element from said group without the develop'- ment of any substantial quantity oi gaseous products and an inert material which will exert a control on the burning rate of the composition.

i0. A composition for use as a charge for fuse, as an igniter charge or the like, including an element selected from the group consisting of sulphur, tellurium and selenium and an oxidizing agent which on combustion will combine with an element from said group without the development of any substantial quantity of gaseous products and an inert material which will exert a control on the burning rate of the composition in amount within the range 140%.

ll. A composition for use as a charge for fuse, as an igniter charge or the like, including barium peroxide, an element selected from the group consisting of sulphur, tellurium and selenium and an inert material which will exert a `control on the burning rate of the composition.

12. A composition for use as a charge for fuse, as an igniter charge or the like, including barium peroxide, selenium and an inert material which will exert a control on the burning rate of the composition.

13. A composition for use as a charge for fuse, as an igniter charge, or the like, including red lead, sulphur and an inert material which will exert a control on the burning rate oi' the composition.

'l-i. A composition for use as a charge for fuse, as an igniter charge or the like. including barium peroxide, selenium and an inert material which will exert a control on the burning rate o! the composition in amount within the range HENRY E. NASH. 

